If the Finance Committee had its way, the town would stop contributing money to the Ames Free Library, said Finance Committee Chairman Donna A. Lopolito.

“Everyone on the Finance Committee thinks we should eliminate all funding for the library,” Lopolito told the town’s budget subcommittee last week.

Easton is facing a $2.3 million budget shortfall for the year that will begin July 1, partly due to rising health insurance and pension costs and a loss of state aid contributions.

Town Administrator David A. Colton has asked the town’s six municipal employee unions for concessions on wages and health insurance. Without them, layoffs of newly hired police and firefighters are likely, he said.

The town is scheduled to level fund the library budget at $451,455 next year, an amount that represents 40 percent of the library’s total budget of $1.1 million.

The other 60 percent comes from the library’s private endowment, which is also being tapped to pay for $1.2 million in renovations to the historic library building on Main Street.

Library Executive Director Madeline Miele Holt said last month the economy has hurt the library’s endowment and the value of its investments has fallen with the stock market.

Without the contribution from the town, it is unlikely the library could remain open sufficient hours to qualify for state certification. Easton now contributes the minimum to meet the spending requirements of the state Board of Library Commissioners.

Communities that fail to meet the minimum can petition the state for a waiver, but when spending cuts cripple services, libraries can be decertified, as the Bridgewater Public Library was in 2008. Bridgewater residents can no longer borrow books and materials from other libraries in the SAILS network.

Selectmen Chairman Colleen A. Corona said selectmen and the town administrator have a “difference of opinion with the Finance Committee.”

Corona said the town is attempting to fund departments that are seeing an increased use of services during the recession, while cutting money to departments where usage is down.

The Ames Free Library has seen a 35 percent increase in circulation. Programs offered by the Council on Aging and Recreation Departments, which are slated for 3 percent budget increases next year, have also been in high demand.

The building and health departments, meanwhile, have seen a decrease in requests for permits and inspections because “nobody is building anything,” Corona said.

“Maybe we can change that in two years,” Corona said. “But we have to fund the services that are utilized.”

Colton said his budget is not firm. Even if he implemented all layoffs outlined in his “worst case” scenario, the budget shortfall would still be $200,000, so cuts to all budgets, including the library, recreation and Council on Aging, could be considered, he said.